During lockdown, Brits have sent clothing to landfill worth a potential £958,611,987, according to sliding wardrobe retailer Spaceslide.
Data from WRAP recently revealed that Brits discarded 67 million items of clothing as part of their lockdown clearouts.
With 8% of items already sold online and 11% waiting to be listed, sliding wardrobe retailer Spaceslide has calculated how much money Brits have made and are set to make from their clear outs, and what has been lost to landfill.
Based on the average selling prices of clothing types on eBay, men and women combined have made a whopping £430,728,288 from selling their unwanted clothing, according to the retailer.
Total sales of men’s clothing from the clearouts is estimated to have hit £164,511,264, while women have raked in a huge £266,217,024.
With so much potential cash needlessly thrown away, here’s hoping Brits consider selling or passing on usable items in the future, rather than throwing them away
Men stand to make an additional £226,202,988 from the items that they are yet to sell online, while women could collectively gain an extra £332,310,352!
This would bring the total value of their lockdown clear outs to £989,241,628 – almost £1 billion from selling clothing alone.
Excluding unsaleable items, discarded men’s clothing could have potentially earned Brits £388,246,583 on eBay, whereas women could have made £570,365,404 from the clothing they’ve binned.
In total, Brits have sent clothing worth a potential £958,611,987 to landfill, Spaceslide estimates.
The calculations follow Spaceslide’s research into the clothing, shoes and accessories that sell for the highest amount on average on eBay. Trainers were the biggest money-maker for both men and women, followed by jeans for men and coats for women.
| Men’s Clothing, Shoes & Accessories: Top 5 Categories By Average Selling Price | |
| Category | Average Selling Price |
| Men’s Trainers | £79.11 |
| Men’s Jeans | £72.74 |
| Men’s Shoes | £50.97 |
| Men’s Boots | £33.30 |
| Men’s Sandals | £26.85 |
| Women’s Clothing, Shoes & Accessories: Top 5 Categories By Average Selling Price | |
| Category | Average Selling Price |
| Women’s Trainers | £54.93 |
| Women’s Coats | £46.18 |
| Women’s Boots | £42.58 |
| Women’s Flats | £27.83 |
| Women’s Jumpers | £26.49 |
Spaceslide Marketing Manager Will Gough commented: “Increased traffic to selling sites means it is the perfect time for Brits to make some money from their wardrobe clearout and free up space in their homes.
“With so much potential cash needlessly thrown away, here’s hoping Brits consider selling or passing on usable items in the future, rather than throwing them away.”
